The calendar flipped to November. Daylight savings time changes Sunday. And for basketball fans, the season will start next week. The Virginia women’s team opens first with a Monday night game against American, while the UVA men’s team follows on Wednesday night against Campbell.
Both of those games tip off at the John Paul Jones Arena at 7 p.m. The women’s team has four other games at the JPJ in November: Radford (Wednesday, 11/13), La Salle (Sunday, 11/17), Alabama State (Wednesday, 11/20), and Bethune-Cookman (Sunday, 11/24). The men’s team plays three other home games the first month too: Coppin State (Monday, 11/11), Manhattan (Tuesday, 11/26), and Holy Cross (Friday, Nov. 29).
For the women’s team, the Hoos enter the third year of the Amaka Agugua-Hamilton era hoping for more progress. The team posted back-to-back .500 records at 15-15 and 16-16 the past two seasons, but also grabbed the program’s first postseason win since 2018 by topping High Point in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). The media picked UVA to finish 9th in the ACC in the preseason poll, which could put them in the conversation for an NCAA Tournament spot for the first time since 2018.
Will the Wahoos earn a bid? Vote in the poll.
The Virginia men’s team, meanwhile, starts the 2024-2025 season with a lot of uncertainty. UVA will open the campaign with six newcomers - four transfers and two freshmen - on the roster as well as two redshirt freshmen that have yet to play any minutes for the Hoos. And, of course, following Tony Bennett’s retirement a few weeks before the season, the Cavaliers will navigate that journey with interim head coach Ron Sanchez in place.
Virginia, of course, has been consistently among the top teams in the ACC over the last 10 years with six ACC Regular Season Championships and two ACC Tournament titles. That’s been enough to make the program a regular participant in the NCAA Tournament as the Wahoos earned a spot in the bracket in 9 of the last 10 events. They won the 2019 National Championship.
Will the Hoos make the field? Vote in the poll.
While you ponder what the seasons ahead may look like, the programs announced that the there will be multiple theme games and giveaway nights at the JPJ. On the men’s side, that includes three special color designation games: All Orange vs. Memphis (Dec. 18), White Hot vs. SMU (Jan. 15), and Stripe JPJ vs. Clemson (March 1). For the women’s team, these are the theme games by color: White vs. Auburn (Dec. 5), Orange vs. Duke (Jan. 12), and Blue vs. Stanford (Feb. 23).
Other Game Day news includes an updated Hall of Fame area at the arena, the addition of Ben and Jerry’s and Crumbl Cookie to concessions, the introduction of a wine bar, and more. Also, a game to celebrate and recognize three-time National Coach of the Year Tony Bennett will be announced at a later date, according to the news release from the school.
Fan(s) Of The Week
That Good Old Song of Wahoowah ...
Student Fan(s) Of The Week
CavMan always has fans!
Feature Photo Of The Week
Lia Godfrey and the Virginia women’s soccer team finished the regular season with a win at Virginia Tech.
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